In a show of solidarity towards the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in India, several UAE-based business houses signed Memorandum of Understandings (MOU) and Letters of Intent (LOI) to establish robust bilateral trade ties. Five MOUs were signed at Emirates Towers here today in this connection.

 

The agreements were signed in the presence of Manoj Sinha, the Lt Governor of J&K, Ahmed Al Banna, the UAE Ambassador to India, Sunjay Sudhir, the Indian Ambassador to UAE, Ranjan Thakur, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Aviation, Government of J&K, Dr Aman Puri, the Indian Consul-General in UAE and representatives of the participating business organisations.

 

The MoUs were signed between the Government of J&K and Al Maya Group, Noon e-commerce, MATU Investments LLC and GL Employment Brokerage LLC. Magna Waves Ltd, Emaar Group and Lulu International signed LOIs.

 

Great investment potential

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Addressing the business community at the signing event, Sinha said: 'We are happy to have signed four MOUs ahead of the business summit and are warmed to see the optimism and engagement of the UAE business community. Jammu and Kashmir has the lowest pier tariff, great opportunities in horticulture, real estate, tourism and we are proving great investment incentives to business houses. This ceremony only demonstrates the strong Indo-UAE trade ties .'

 

‘Strengthening bilateral ties’

 

Al Banna said he was very happy to have witnessed this signing ceremony that included Emirati companies that signed important trade agreements with J&K. 'India stands second as the UAE’s trading partner, while the UAE is the third-largest trading partner of India. This signing event demonstrates the strategic relationship between the two countries and is significant in further strengthening our bilateral ties.'

 

First UAE-based retailer to import Kashmiri saffron

 

Kamal Vachani, Group Director for Al Maya Group, told Gulf News: 'We were the first retailers in the UAE to import saffron from J&K. This MOU today is being signed to procure the famous Kashmiri apples and other dry fruit. We are really looking forward to these trade ties and feel privileged to be part of a successful journey that the Union Territory is currently undergoing. There will be new avenues of tourism, with hospitality and real estate also opening up and we are confident that J&K will enter a new era of trade and business.'

 

India is renegotiating the duty structure imposed by various countries for boosting honey exports as it looks at diversifying market access for this product, exports of which are majorly dependent on one market - the United States, accounting for more than 80 per cent of the shipments.

 

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has been focusing on boosting exports by ensuring quality production and a multi-pronged effort has been mounted including the facilitation of honey producers in accessing export markets and availing government assistance under different schemes, quality certification and lab testing. India started its first organized exports in the year 1996-97.

 

'We are working in close collaboration with the state government, farmers and other stakeholders in the value chain to boost exports to other countries and regions such as the United Kingdom, European Union and South East Asia,' M Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA said on Wednesday. The agri export development body is also working with exporters to deal with challenges such as higher freight cost, limited availability of containers in peak honey export season, higher nuclear magnetic resonance test costs and inadequate export incentives.

 

India exported 59,999 metric tonnes (MT) of natural honey worth Rs 716 crore (US $ 96.77 million) during 2020-21 with the United States taking a major share at 44,881 MT. Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh and Canada were the other top destinations for Indian honey. World honey exported in 2020 was 736,266.02 MT with India ranking 8th and 9th in the world in honey producing and exporting countries respectively. The world honey production in 2019 was 1721 thousand metric tonnes and China, Turkey, Canada, Argentina, Iran and USA are among the major honey-producing countries, accounting for 50% of total world production.

 

The Government has approved allocation of Rs 500 crore for the National Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM) for three years (2020-21 to 2022-23) as part of the AtmaNirbhar Bharat initiative. In India, the north-east region and Maharashtra are key areas for natural honey production in the country. Around 50% of the honey produced in India is consumed domestically and the rest is exported across the globe. Honey exports have huge potential, especially amidst the COVID19 pandemic as an effective immunity booster and a healthier alternative to sugar. The National Beekeeping and Honey Mission is working towards the goal of ‘Sweet Revolution’, being implemented through the National Bee Board (NBB) with a budget of Rs170 crore for developing beekeeping and honey clusters, improving quality and productivity of honey as also increasing exports.

India will safeguard the interests of its farm, dairy and fishery sectors while finalizing multilateral or bilateral trade deals, including talks at the 12th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) as well as ongoing bilateral trade negotiations with countries such as Australia, said two government officials aware of the trade negotiations.

 

New Delhi’s stand at all multilateral and bilateral fora has been consistent and explicitly clear for a developing and populous country such as India; food security of the underprivileged is of paramount importance as is the protection of the interests of the three sectors, the officials said requesting anonymity.

 

'India is committed to protecting its agriculture sector. This was evident from the prime minister’s last-minute decision on 4 November 2019 to exit the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), despite it being one of the biggest trade blocs,' one of the two officials said.

 

'Whether negotiating free-trade agreements (FTAs) with individual countries or at the WTO, the government will keep Indian interests first. Certain sectors, such as public procurement for food security, agriculture, dairy and fisheries, are sensitive and the government will not compromise with it at any cost,' the official said.

 

New Delhi walked out of RCEP as it realized that the deal could flood the Indian market with Chinese goods at the cost of the local industry, while cheaper imports of milk derivatives from Australia and New Zealand would be detrimental to the health of India’s dairy industry, he added.

 

RCEP covers 30% of the world’s population, contributing $25.8 trillion or about 30% of global gross domestic product, and accounting for $12.7 trillion or a little over a quarter of global goods and services trade. The 10-member RCEP includes Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.

 

The apprehension about ongoing negotiations of the FTA with Australia involving imports of dairy and agriculture products is incorrect, the second official said. 'It is clarified that negotiations have focused entirely on mutually beneficial items of trade, and India has not made any offer at all in these (dairy or agriculture) sectors to Australia,' the official said.

 

The official was reacting to a tweet by Bhartiya Kisan Union’s national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait on Saturday alleging that India will be signing a deal with Australia, which will allow milk imports at ?20-22 per litre, much lower than the retail price of locally-produced milk, at ?50-60 a litre.

 

'There is no proposal for any duty concession on the import of dairy products into India with Australia under consideration with the department of animal husbandry and dairying,' Parshottam Rupala, Union minister for fisheries, animal husbandry and dairy, said in a tweet in Hindi on Tuesday.

 

'Regarding dairy, India has already opened up some sub-sectors in its trade in goods agreement with Asean and comprehensive agreements with Japan and Korea. However, Indian companies are not able to export to key markets like the UK, EU and Australia, and they face almost an entry ban as they are not able to meet the export requirements,' said Arpita Mukherjee, professor, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations. 'There is a strong lobby in India, which is against reducing tariff through trade agreements on imports from the UK, EU, Australia. However, this is not the view of all companies, which use dairy as an ingredient in processing, and would like this sector to have lower duties on ingredients for processing,' she added.

The Jammu and Kashmir government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Dubai-based Lulu group to set up a food processing and logistics hub in Srinagar, officials said.

 

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha termed it as a 'historic agreement' and said the trade between Jammu & Kashmir and Dubai has remained steady reflects the resilience of our deep economic linkages.

 

The J&K government signed an MoU with the LuLu Group to set up a food processing and logistics hub in Srinagar, in the presence of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and LuLu group Chairman Yusuff Ali M A on Wednesday, an official spokesman said on Thursday.

 

This historic agreement was signed by J&K Principal Secretary (Industries & Commerce) Ranjan Prakash Thakur and LuLu Group Executive Director Ashraf Ali M A at Dubai, where Sinha also inaugurated J&K promotion week at the LuLu hypermarket.

 

The lieutenant governor said the MoU with the LuLu group will further expand Jammu & Kashmir-Dubai collaboration and Jammu Kashmir-LuLu Group partnership.

 

'Relations between India and the UAE are long-standing and deep-rooted. People-to-people contact and trade have seen momentum in the recent years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,' the lieutenant governor said.

 

The world-famous GI-tagged saffron has been launched at LuLu Hypermarket, which is a major step towards boosting the Jammu & Kashmir-Dubai partnership, he said.

 

Sinha added that the LuLu group is already importing apples from Jammu & Kashmir and with saffron, 'we are adding Kashmir's finest spice to the basket'.

 

'I am certain this new beginning will take our trade to   unprecedented levels,' he said.

 

Sinha added that the trade between Jammu & Kashmir and Dubai has remained steady, despite COVID-19 challenges and it reflects the resilience of its deep economic linkages. 'The MoU will further expand Jammu Kashmir-Dubai collaboration and Jammu Kashmir-Lulu Group partnership.'

 

Jammu & Kashmir is number one in the production of Saffron, Apple, Walnut and Almond in India. The MoU with the LuLu group will help the UT reach out to shoppers at 190 LuLu Hypermarkets across the GCC and Egypt.

The commerce ministry on Thursday restarted its COVID-19 helpdesk to help resolve issues of exporters and importers related to international trade such as customs clearance delays and banking matters amid rising coronavirus cases. It was first started in April 2021.

 

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), an arm of the ministry, took this initiative to monitor the status of exports and imports, and difficulties being faced by trade stakeholders in view of the surge in COVID-19 cases.

 

'DGFT has operationalised a 'COVID-19 Helpdesk' to support and seek suitable resolutions to issues arising in respect of international trade,' the Directorate said in a trade notice to all exporters, members of trade, export promotion councils and commodity boards.

 

The helpdesk will look into issues relating to import and export licensing, customs clearance delays and complexities arising thereon, import/export documentation, and banking matters.

 

'Helpdesk would also collect and collate trade related issues concerning other ministries/departments/ agencies of central and state governments and will coordinate to seek their support and provide possible resolution,' it said.

 

Stakeholders can submit information on the DGFT website about their issues on which support is required.

 

The status of resolutions and feedback may be tracked using the Status tracker under the DGFT Helpdesk Services. E-mail and SMS would also be sent as and when the status of these tickets are updated.

 

The country reported 90,928 fresh coronavirus infections, the highest in over 200 days, that pushed its caseload to 3,51,09,286, according to the data of the Union health ministry. As many as 91,702 new infections were reported on June 10 last year.

Working in close collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has taken several initiatives in making landlocked Purvanchal region as a new destination of agri-export activities through development of Varanasi Agri – Export Hub (VAEH).

 

APEDA has identified potential districts of Uttar Pradesh to be covered under the VAEH. The Purvanchal division covers districts of Varanasi, Mirzapur, Azamgarh, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Basti, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, Chandauli and Sant Ravidas Nagar.

 

The Varanasi region, where there are negligible agri-exports used to take place because of lack of basic infrastructure, is now abuzz with activities which has given a boost to exports. After the intervention of APEDA, Varanasi region has recorded exemplary changes in the export scenario and registered many first-of-its-kind achievements in a very short span of time.

 

With the active intervention of APEDA, about 20,000 Metric Tonne (MT) of agri- produce have been exported from Purvanchal region in the last six months. Out of these shipments, about 5,000 MT fresh fruits and vegetables and 15,000 MT of cereals have been exported to Vietnam, Gulf nations, Nepal and Bangladesh by all modes of transportation.

 

Varanasi and nearby areas witnessed an export of around 12 MT, 22 MT and 45 MT in the months of October, November, December respectively in the year 2021. Also, around 125 MT have been exported from Varanasi and nearby areas.

 

As Varanasi is a territory based in the plains of river Ganges, it has rich nutritional composition of soil with ample amount of fertility which leads to production of good quality agri-produce. Varanasi region also has reputed institutions of central and international level such as Indian Institute of Vegetable Research (IIVR), International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Banaras Hindu University (BHU).

 

Currently, the Varanasi region has a number of exporters and exports of agricultural products is being undertaken through air route due to establishment of robust quarantine as well as custom clearance facilitation centre at Lal Bahadur Shastri International (LBSI) Airport. APEDA has organised more than 30 capacity building programmes in the entire Varanasi region followed by eight international buyer-seller meets, which has provided a platform to the exporters to market their food products in the global marketplace.

 

To monitor the product and production, a project of AI tech is also being considered for approval. APEDA is also planning to take member Farmer Producer Organization to different successful territories for unveiling the agri-supply chain and market linkage.

 

The government is also considering replicating the Varanasi model in the Gorakhpur region of Purvanchal as the geography, demography and few other parameters are common in both the places. The newly established international airport in Kushinagar may play a vital role in triggering the export. The DDU Gorakhpur University, Indian Institute of Seed Science, Mau are the institutions actively working towards promotion of agri- activities in the region.

 

APEDA has also approved three projects for comprehensive grain and nutritional quality profiling of non-Basmati Rice, value added products from Rice and rice-based food systems. An APEDA-funded project for integrated IT solutions to enhance Agri Export in Varanasi Region is under process.

 

The export of the first trial shipment of 14 MT green chilly was facilitated by APEDA from Varanasi to Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port in December 2019.

 

For the first time, from Varanasi 3 MT fresh vegetables was exported to London, 3 MT fresh mangoes to Dubai, 1.2 MT fresh mangoes to London, 520 MT regional rice to Qatar and 80 MT regional rice to Australia during the Covid pandemic in 2020, after APEDA’s intervention.

 

Meanwhile, Trisagar Farmer Producer Company Ltd, which is based in Sant Ravidas Nagar district, has started sending shipments on a daily basis to the international market after the intervention of APEDA. In another success story, Gazipur district-based Shivansh Krishak Producer Company Ltd with a base of 1,500 progressive farmers has managed to get a decent realisation for its commodities after exporting a good volume of agri-produce.

 

Similarly, Varanasi-based FPO Jaya Seed Farmer Producer Company Ltd, which grows mangoes in around 50 acres, is getting higher price as compared to average price of the market after the intervention of APEDA. Prior to the initiative taken by APEDA, the FPC used to sell mangoes at an average price of Rs 25/kg, but in recent season they have sold it at Rs 50/kg to a Netherland-based company named Super Plum having few outlets in Bangalore and Mumbai.

Thiruvananthapuram: Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), a statutory body under the ministry of commerce and industry in association with department of agriculture development & farmer’s welfare, Government Of Kerala, has initiated export promotion drive with a focused approach in all districts of Kerala.

 

The export promotion drive was inaugurated by minister of agriculture, P Prasad here on Wednesday.

 

Export promotion drives in other 13 districts of the state will be organised soon. The minister pointed out that production of safe food is possible only through agriculture with good practices which will also raise the income of the farmers.

 

Department of agriculture has analysed the situation of natural disasters in the state and has come up with appropriate technologies to tackle it. He also pointed out the opportunity and demand of organic certified products in international market. The minister said it is essential to identify products suited to each geographical area of the state and promote their production as well as export. This will result in higher income to farmers leading to the prosperity of the state.

 

He also thanked APEDA for all the efforts made & also expressed interest to associate in further capacity building programmes for raising exports from Kerala.

 

Chairman of APEDA, M Angamuthu spoke about the distinctiveness of products and extraordinary logistics facilities of Kerala being a unique destination located in the extreme southern end of India. He also requested thefarmers/FPOs/exporters to take advantage of the plethora of schemes offered by the government agencies. He also emphasised the importance of sourcing the right product in the right quantity in line with the specific requirements of importing countries to attract more buyers to the state.

Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar and Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Shri G. Kishan Reddy co-chaired a meeting to review the progress of various schemes of the Government of India in the Agriculture sector in states of the Northeastern Region (NER) virtually from Vignan Bhavan, New Delhi today.

 

Union Minister of State for DoNER Shri B L Verma, Ministers for Agriculture of all the 8 North Eastern States attended the meeting. Secretary, DoNER, Secretary, Agriculture, Agriculture Secretaries from the NER States along with senior officials of both the Ministries and their organizations were present in the meeting.

 

Addressing the North Eastern States, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar assured that Central the Government of India will do everything in its capacity to ensure that the income of the farmers of the NER region is doubled. He said, 'Our door is always open. I request all State Governments to come up with a proposal if you find any difficulty in any schemes related to the agriculture sector.'

 

Shri Tomar said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi put special emphasis on the development of the North Eastern Region. Speaking on the opportunities in the oil palm sector Shri Tomar said that ICAR suggested that 9 lakh hectare land in the North East is suitable for oil palm production. Due to the oil palm production farmers of the North Eastern Region will be hugely benefitted, Employment will be generated and import of oil palm can be reduced. Thus North East has a major role to play to make India self-reliant in edible oil. 

 

The Minister said there are some horticulture and medicinal crops only produced in North-Eastern State. There is a very big export opportunity for such crops. He said that Agriculture and Commerce Ministry are working together to tap such opportunities and to solve the logistic problems faced by the North Eastern States.

 

Agriculture Minister also requested State Government to focus on Natural Farming. He said that the Prime Minister’s vision to minimise the dependence of farmers on purchased inputs through Zero budget Natural farming that reduces the cost of agriculture by relying on traditional field-based technologies which leads to improved soil health through natural farming should be fulfilled. He also congratulated Sikkim and the other North States for their achievements in organic farming.

 

Shri G. Kishan Reddy, Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Tourism, and Culture while addressing the states suggested that a task force be formed with representatives from Agriculture Ministry, DoNER and State governments to ensure that the schemes of Agriculture Ministry are saturated for the Northeastern Region and the schemes can be customized to address the unique nature and the nuances encountered in the Northeast Region.

 

The Minister said that there is huge scope for employment generation in Agriculture and tourism industries. He said that the Prime Minister has underscored the vision to develop the North East as the hub of organic farming. Further, there is tremendous potential for the development of horticulture as a major contributor to the region’s economic prosperity.  Be it Pineapple, Oranges, Kiwi, or spices such as turmeric, ginger, cardamom etc. The North Eastern States are gaining popularity in the market which needs to be taken to a global level now. He said that there is a need to focus on strengthening the agricultural and horticultural produce value chains. He said that post-harvest management also needs to be improved by involving FPOs, SHGs and the private sector. This is a crucial step in doubling our farmers’ income. There should be greater coordination with the Union Agriculture Ministry, line ministries and among all North Eastern States.

 

During the meeting, brief presentations on the major initiatives/ programmes being run by the Ministries in the Agricultural Sector for the NER States were made by the Agriculture Ministry and Secretaries of all the 8  States of NER. Key schemes/programs discussed during the meeting are as below:

 

1. Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Regions (MOVCDNER)

2. National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP)

3. Bamboo in North East Region

4. The mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH)

 

Agriculture Ministers of the Northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam,    Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura discussed the issues    and challenges they were facing in detail.

 

Officials from organizations such as North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd. (NEDFI), Tribal Co-Operative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED) and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd.(NAFED) also made presentations on the work their respective organizations are undertaking in the Northeast region. The officials from the Ministry of Food Processing were also present and made presentations on the various schemes available for the Northeast region.

Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Thursday called for ensuring timely refund of taxes for exporters and giving further thrust to ease of doing business in the country. Goyal’s comments followed a review of the progress made under two schemes -- the 'Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products' (RoDTEP) and 'Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies' (RoSCTL) on Thursday.

 

The RoDTEP scheme which was notified on exports from 1 January 2021, creates a mechanism for reimbursement of taxes/duties/ levies, which are currently not being refunded under any other mechanism, at the central, state and local level, but which are incurred in the process of manufacture and distribution of exported products. The RoDTEP scheme has been introduced with a budget of Rs 12,454 crore. Government has released Rs 2,568 crore to clear pending export incentive dues to exporters under RoDTEP and other legacy schemes like Target Plus Scheme (TPS).

 

Under the RoSCTL scheme notified in 2019, exporters are issued a duty credit scrip for the value of embedded taxes and levies contained in the exported product. Government has released Rs 5,286 crore to clear pending export incentive dues to exporters under the RoSCTL scheme and has extended the RoSCTL scheme for apparel and made-up exports till March 2024 with existing rates.

 

The Minister also held a meeting to discuss reforms in India’s Special Economic Zones which would further boost exports and facilitate rapid economic growth by simplifying business and regulatory framework in the country. Speaking at a conference on SEZ organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in October 2021, S Kishore, Special Secretary, Ministry of Commerce had said extension of RoDTEP scheme to SEZs are in the pipeline to make them more investor friendly.

 

India’s SEZs account for one fourth of the country’s exports and a slew of measures like digitization of processes and promotion of green zones have been undertaken to attract foreign investment in SEZs. According to Kishore there is strong inter-ministerial coordination for addressing policy issues and promoting Indian SEZs as readymade land banks that offer plug and play facility.

 

Industry has also flagged the need to adopt a cohesive approach in promoting SEZs, increase the presence of manufacturing sectors in these zones and enhance their efficacy through efforts to ensure ease of exit as the sunset clause for SEZ tax incentives has set in. Granting infrastructure status to SEZs, formulating separate rules and procedures for manufacturing and services SEZs, and merging the SEZ policy with other schemes such as the national industrial manufacturing zones will also prove to be useful, CII has suggested.

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Tuesday that the Centre and state governments are working together to achieve the target of doubling farmers' income by 2022.

 

In 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government set a highly?ambitious goal of doubling farmers' incomes by 2022. 

 

In September 2018, an inter-ministerial committee on 'Doubling Farmers' Income' submitted a report outlining strategies to attain this target. Following the approval of the panel's recommendations, the government established 'empowered body' to review and monitor progress. Tomar stated at an event in Goa that the central government has given agriculture and related activities high priority. Agriculture makes a considerable contribution to the nation's GDP, making it all the more important to boost the?agriculture sector. 

 

'To achieve the Prime Minister's target of doubling farmers' income by 2022, the central and state governments?as well as farmers across the nation, are working in unison,' Tomar was cited as saying in an official statement. Even during the pandemic, the agriculture industry held up well, with farmers harvesting bumper crops. Despite the fact that tourism took a back seat during the pandemic, the farm sector continued to thrive in Goa, he noted. 

 

Highlighting central schemes like PM-KISAN launched to strengthen small farmers, Tomar emphasized that the Centre is promoting the establishment of 10,000 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) by 2027-28 with a total budgetary investment of Rs.6865 crore, and that this scheme is 'successfully being implemented in Goa.' 

 

'Advanced technology and innovative approaches in the sector are luring youths to agriculture in the state,' Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant stated at the event. He also urged people to practice integrated farming, which includes agriculture, horticulture, dairy farming, pisciculture, and floriculture. 

 

The event was attended by Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Tendulkar and Quepem Municipal Council Chairperson Suchita Shirwaikar, among others.